Rush Limbaugh's rhetoric has crossed the line between free speech and apolitical campaign. It's appropriate and necessary for media to give voiceto political opposition, but it is inappropriate when on-air media talentbecomes the voice for a political opposition party. Limbaugh's lengthyCastro-like speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)was his coming out party for a run for president of the United States andas he emerges as the new leader and voice of the Republican Party, radiostations and advertisers have an obligation to reconsider their support.

It is essential to question whether Limbaugh should continue to haveaccess to the public airwaves and whether advertisers should continue tosupport him. The support of advertisers could be easily perceived as astatement of political support for Limbaugh's policies. Advertisers andradio stations that support Limbaugh could -- and perhaps should -- beinterpreted as providing explicit support for the far right wing ofconservative politics. Giving a political party control over the press isa dangerous precedent, and a Sustainable Free Press requires that thepeople believe that media takes responsibility for the content itdelivers. An editorial voice is far different than a politician's controlover the press, which throughout history has been the first step towarddictatorship.

<snip>

But we should not ignore Rush Limbaugh's oratory. He has taken over thepolitical leadership of the far right wing activist group in our country-- a group who appear to believe the last eight years were the best in ournation's history and a group who may count among them advocates forviolent anti-government actions. Limbaugh, in his (CPAC) speech, explainedwhy he believes it's acceptable to hope for the President of the UnitedStates to fail. He essentially has called for the overthrow of the currentgovernment, saying "it is time to take back our nation." Politicians aresubject to being voted in or out of office. Those who find Limbaugh'spolitical calls as the leader of the "take back the nation" campaign to beinappropriate for a radio host have a more immediate option: to withdrawsupport.

This is a dangerous time for the American radio industry. Advertisingrevenues are drying up. While leading Republican industrialists are amongthose who support Limbaugh's calls for action by the wealthy few againstthe government, many of these same leaders are dependent upon the ObamaRecovery Plan to bail them out of the mess they have put themselves andthe nation in. Media companies are dependent upon a national economicrecovery. Media owners must think long and hard about their role insociety and the messages they want to communicate about their support forLimbaugh and what many consider to be his politics of hate.

I hope the effort to take down Rush Limbaugh succeeds. He's a windbag and ademagogue, but more than that, he's trivial. Essentially, he's just an entertainerwho gins up policy ideas not for their efficacy in real government and politics, butto get a rise out of his 11 million listeners a week. For too long trivial pursuitmaestros like Limbaugh have been leading people too inarticulate to speak andunderstand for themselves, around by the nose. Rush's ravings are an instanceof the blind (he's deaf too!) leading the blinder. The big fat cigar jutting from thecorner of the Limbaugh Mouth over a corpulent body is not exactly a positiveimage for a nation concerned about Obesity and the Fat Cats of Wall Street andthe Big Three.

Mike Rice

At 10:59 PM 3/4/2009, George Lessard wrote:

>Radio Stations and Advertisers Consider Withdrawing Support>for Rush Limbaugh>Jack Myers Jack Myers Tue Mar 3, 10:15 pm ET>Huffington Post><<http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20090304/cm_huffpost/171598>http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20090304/cm_huffpost/171598>>>Rush Limbaugh's rhetoric has crossed the line between free speech and a>political campaign. It's appropriate and necessary for media to give voice>to political opposition, but it is inappropriate when on-air media talent>becomes the voice for a political opposition party. Limbaugh's lengthy>Castro-like speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)>was his coming out party for a run for president of the United States and>as he emerges as the new leader and voice of the Republican Party, radio>stations and advertisers have an obligation to reconsider their support.>>It is essential to question whether Limbaugh should continue to have>access to the public airwaves and whether advertisers should continue to>support him. The support of advertisers could be easily perceived as a>statement of political support for Limbaugh's policies. Advertisers and>radio stations that support Limbaugh could -- and perhaps should -- be>interpreted as providing explicit support for the far right wing of>conservative politics. Giving a political party control over the press is>a dangerous precedent, and a Sustainable Free Press requires that the>people believe that media takes responsibility for the content it>delivers. An editorial voice is far different than a politician's control>over the press, which throughout history has been the first step toward>dictatorship.>><snip>>>But we should not ignore Rush Limbaugh's oratory. He has taken over the>political leadership of the far right wing activist group in our country>-- a group who appear to believe the last eight years were the best in our>nation's history and a group who may count among them advocates for>violent anti-government actions. Limbaugh, in his (CPAC) speech, explained>why he believes it's acceptable to hope for the President of the United>States to fail. He essentially has called for the overthrow of the current>government, saying "it is time to take back our nation." Politicians are>subject to being voted in or out of office. Those who find Limbaugh's>political calls as the leader of the "take back the nation" campaign to be>inappropriate for a radio host have a more immediate option: to withdraw>support.>>This is a dangerous time for the American radio industry. Advertising>revenues are drying up. While leading Republican industrialists are among>those who support Limbaugh's calls for action by the wealthy few against>the government, many of these same leaders are dependent upon the Obama>Recovery Plan to bail them out of the mess they have put themselves and>the nation in. Media companies are dependent upon a national economic>recovery. Media owners must think long and hard about their role in>society and the messages they want to communicate about their support for>Limbaugh and what many consider to be his politics of hate.>>--------------------------------->>The complete article may be read at the URL above.>>

Announcement: World Community Radio Network Welcomes the New Coordinatorof AMARC Africa

March 4th 2009. The World Association of Community Radio broadcasters inAfrica (AMARC Africa) announces the recruitment of Mr Alymana Bathily asthe new AMARC Africa Coordinator.

Mr Bathily is a senior media and communication specialist with over 17years of experience in research, production, policy and advocacyadvisory and in public relations and outreach capacities. He has doneextensive research on the media in West Africa and has proven experiencein developing and implementing advocacy programs for progressivecommunication regulations and legislation.

As the new coordinator of AMARC Africa, Mr. Bathily will support thereorganisation of the AMARC Africa network and the success of the 4thPan African Conference to be held in Ivory Coast 27-30 April 2009. Hewill ensure the support to the board of directors and the communicationwith the members; he will coordinate project development and theorganisation of the strategic plan activities defined by the members atthe 4th Pan African Conference. He can be reached at: info@africa.amarc.org

NEW YORK, USA, 4 March 2009 – A group of 20 youths packed together in asmall radio studio, crowded over a few microphones, are speaking withgreat intensity. They laugh often and sometimes talk over each other.

The young people are live on air, discussing educational reform and AIDSeducation – just two of the many social topics that are covered on'Curious Minds', a talk radio programme of the Ghana BroadcastingCorporation.

'Curious Minds' has over 60 youth members who participate in all levels ofproduction on the show.

World Summit on Media for Children and Youth Karlstad Sweden 2010 will bea summit for 2000 delegates, 100 students from 100 countries preparingwith children and youth for a new mediaworld in the 21st century. It willoffer you great opportunities to network, to be part of debates, to beinteractive and to be part of workshops to share your perspective,experience and expertise.

Central theme and strandsThe central theme for World Summit Karlstad 2010 is Challenges in youngpeople's world of communication. This great area is divided into fivestrands with the following perspectives:

Communication for change- How, from your perspective, can communication in different media supportneeded social change?

Children and young people's education and development- How can media literacy and educational media make a difference?

Children and young people's digital content creation- How can today's and tomorrow's media world gain quality from youngpeople's digital own media content creation?- How can young children and youth of the world help improve globalunderstanding when creating media content?- From the core perspectives of equity, equality, inclusion andintercultural dialogue, what happens when young people are able todigitally create media content?

Economics, policies and law- From a child and youth perspective, what measures and steps must betaken to meet the challenges of today's media world?

Ethics and social responsibilities- In a non-regulated global media world how, in your perspective, canquality in media for children and young people improve?

ABOUT WORLD SUMMITWorld Summits are held every three years and provide a forum forproducers, broadcasters and regulators of media for children and otherprofessionals and community leaders committed to the improvement ofquality media for children.

The Summit has travelled around world cities since 1995 when it started inMelbourne, Australia. Since then it has been in London, Thessaloniki, Riode Janeiro, and Johannesburg. Now it's time for Scandinavia and Karlstadto host the World Summit.

The objectives of World Summit on Media for Children and youth are:

# To achieve a greater understanding of developments in children's mediaaround the world.

# To raise the status of children's media.

# To draw to the attention of key players in broadcasting the importanceof issues relating to children.

# To promote a charter of guiding principles in children's media.

# To ensure the provision of programs for children will be guaranteed asthe communication revolution proceeds.

# To assist in the developing world to provide opportunities for qualitychildren's meda in the future.

For more information about the World Summit Foundation and the Board,please follow the link below.

Creative-Radio is an independent forum for people active in or interested in the use of radio in development, in particular promoting public health, improved education, protection of the environment, improved livelihoods, good governance and conflict mitigation. Since it started in 1996, Creative-Radio has been in the forefront of radio's resurgence as a tool for social change and peace-building, and it helps promote best practice in these areas.